A year and a half ago my brother,Steve and I entered our first homebrew competition, the 2007 Cascade Brewerâ€™s Cup.I had been listening to the BN for about six months, and finally took to heart Jamilâ€™s repeated recommendation that submitting beer to competitions was the only way to obtain true, impartial, constructive criticism.We submitted three beers; a blonde ale, a rye pale ale (RPA) and as an afterthought, our American IPA (AIPA).Â To our surprise, the RPA place third in the specialty beer category and the AIPA won the IPA category.The AIPA went on to place 3rd in the BOS round, but that was not the most shocking development.Â It just so happened that the mini festival (Cascade Brewerâ€™s Guild Exbeerience), where the results of the competition were released, was sponsored in part by Anuheuser-Busch (A-B).A-B also decided to sponsor the Best-to-Brew category with the kicker being that the beer would be brewed in St. Louis at the Michelob Research Pilot Brewery.Â As you can guess we were floored when our beer was chosen as the Best-to-Brew. We recently completed our trip, so I thought Iâ€™d share our three day, two night experience with the BN Army.

The accommodations were excellent; exit rows on the flights, towncar transportation from the airport and a nice hotel near the Arch/Riverfront area of town. The night we arrived we met up with Nathaniel Davis, the Brewmaster of the Michelob Research Pilot Brewery (RPB), forÂ dinner and beers at a pub nearÂ the A-B headquarters: Bells Two-Hearted and Kostritzer BlackÂ LagerÂ on tap, all on A-B.Â He went over what we would be doingÂ the next dayÂ and gave us an update on how things like yeast propagation were progressing.

The next morning we met up at the RPB at 6:30 AM and got a quick tour of the seven story facility.Â We were met by a two person film crew, and were set up with microphones.Â They took video (and audio) of most of the brew day and A-B alsoÂ had a professional photographer come in and take some pictures.Â At 7:00 AM we mashed in the grains (828 lbs) for our American IPA.Â Most of the brewing is controlled by a double screen control panel, so there was very little hands on work for us.Â They let us switch any necessary manual valvesÂ and dumpÂ the hops into the boil kettle.Â We followed and tasted the wort/beer as it made its way through the brewery.Â They have a mash tun to lauter tun to brew kettleÂ to whirlpoolÂ setup.Â We hit our gravity target numbers almost perfectly, and the brew day went smooth, and was mostly complete by 12:30 PM.Â In theÂ midst of brewing we got to tour the lab, andÂ learned howÂ to count yeastÂ cells.

After that weÂ ate a quick lunch and downed a couple of A-B products, and then metÂ up with Jane Killebrew-Galeski,Â Brewmaster and Director of New Product Development.Â She gave us an hourÂ and a halfÂ personalizedÂ tour of the main A-B brewery.Â During the tourÂ the wort was transferred to theÂ fermenter, and the yeast was pitched.

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We metÂ back up withÂ Nathaniel and did a final wort tasting.Â This evolved into a Michelob/RPB panel tasting.Â He pulled out about 15 beers to taste, some soon to be on the market, others still in the experimental stage.Â Examples were:Â Czech Pilsner, Wit, Irish Red, Dunkel Weisse and Imperial IPA.Â All were excellent.

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The last thing we did was have a celebratory beer in the official A-B "3:00" tasting room.Â It had leather chairs, a big board room table and two tap handles (Bud & Bud Light) in the corner.Â Nathaniel pulled out one more beer from a walkin cooler nearby that he wanted us to try (Helles Bock) and we finally ended the dayÂ with aÂ glass of Budweiser pulled from the fancy corner tap.

They gave us a ton of Michelob and A-B gear to a take home as well.Â My daughters really liked the stuffed dalmation and clydesdale.

We spent Saturday, hanging out in the Riverfront district of St. Louis, enjoying all that it had to offer.

All in all this was one of the best experiences weâ€™ve had as brewers.Â As my brother put it, he could not remember a better day in recent memory.

Michael Brown is an avid homebrewer and member of the BNARMY and his local homebrew club, the Cascade Brewer's Guild.

Sounds like you both hit the jackpot! That trip sounds like a lot of fun and very informational. Congrats on winning and showing off your BN Army shirt in front of A-B! Cheers!

~Jeremy

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AB Supporting the BN?by beer punk, September 13, 2008

Perhaps now we (the royal "we") can get someone from AB to interview on the sunday show!? Seriously, congrats on the comp! oh yeah, and the best to brew. brew strong!

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ideaby Abitaman, September 14, 2008

Maybe this is an opportunity for the Session to interview someone from the Michelob project, only to speak about what they're doing, why A-B is doing it, and what we should expect. Just an idea...

On a related note, my brother-in-law who works for the A-B distributor in New Orleans brought over the new Bud American Ale. I thought it was a pretty good entry way beer. Should anyone try it, I challege you to be objective.

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AWESOME!!!!by BDawg, September 15, 2008

Way to go, Mike & Steve!

Sounds like you guys had a great time!

Steve

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Final Result?by sEthanol, September 16, 2008

Congratulations on your win. Will you have an opportunity to taste your beer when it is ready?

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Thanksby MikeB, September 16, 2008

Thanks for the comments. It was such a cool experience, I hope that A-B offers this opportunity to other homebrewers in the future.

I think that Nathaniel would be an excellent guest for a Session show. Even Jill (20+ years at A-B) his boss would be a good interview.

As far as tasting the beer, we are still working on the details of how to get the beer out to Washington. The most likely scenario has them sending a few kegs for a local festival. I was hoping it might make it to the GABF, but the stipulation that it be commercially available before the festival nixed that.